Violets in August
by Candyland
Summary: Theirs is a simple, classic story. Violet/Augustus
1. A Boy and a Girl

**AN: **I enjoy writing for pairings and characters that tend to get overlooked, and this is one such example, because I don't think there's too much out there for Augustus and Violet. This will be multi-part. I'm just not entirely sure at the moment how many parts there will wind up being. We shall see! I don't own Professor Layton, but I hope you enjoy the story. Thanks for reading! Much love!

**A Boy and a Girl**

Escorting Violet places had become a part of Augustus Reinhold's daily life, more or less. They had known each other since they were children, back when he had pulled on her braided pigtails to get her attention, and throwing a snowball at the back of her head in winter was supposed to be a clear indication that he liked her. It made sense to him, why didn't she get it?

Pity it had taken her this long to get what that stupid snowball had meant. Back when he had thrown the thing, she had screamed at him and chased him down the street, trying to hit him with her school satchel. Fortunately, she had always missed.

But at least now they were on speaking terms, and quite good ones at that. She had certainly grown into herself, becoming a lovely and well-mannered young woman. There were no further chases with voices screaming and schoolbags waving. And neither of them were children anymore, which meant that he understood that pulling her hair would not garner any affections. He had to be a gentleman, or at the very least, he had to be nice.

That morning it had rained, and so he had been given an opportunity to be the aforementioned nice gentleman by holding an umbrella for her on their way to school. He had then been the subject of an extremely raised eyebrow by their teacher upon his rainsoaked arrival at the schoolhouse.

The rain had stopped, fortunately, but it was still quite wet outside as they walked home from a day of classes. He was quietly thankful for small blessings like that.

But he saw another opportunity to be a gentleman, something he had once heard his mother describing his father doing. And that opportunity came in the form of a large puddle on the sidewalk ahead of them. He told her to stop and asked her to hold his books for a moment. She did, although she gave him quite a confused look as she took them.

Now with his hands free, he quickly removed his jacket and carefully laid it over the puddle in front of her. That done, he offered her a hand to step across it.

Violet looked at him blankly for a moment, then took his hand with an amused smile and stepped over the puddle, treading very lightly on his jacket as she did so. Once safely on the other side, she waited while he picked up his coat (which was now sopping wet) and slung it over his arm, seemingly uncaring for his sleeves. He opened his mouth as though to say something—

But before he could get so much as a word out, a car drove by and ran across a very deep puddle in the street. The resulting splash sprayed them, soaking them both through to the skin. They both instinctively threw their hands up to shield themselves, but it was a vain action and a foregone conclusion.

For a moment, they both just blinked at each other. Then Violet managed a smile and held his books out to him. "I'm sorry, but I think they might be a little damp…" she said softly.

It was one of those moments where all you can really do is laugh. And years later, after they were married, young Flora was regaled with an amusing story that told of the precise moment when her father fell completely in love with her mother.


	2. A Lady and a Gentleman

**AN:** More on Augustus Reinhold and Lady Violet, whoo! I don't own anything, including Layton. Thanks for reading! Much love!

**A Lady and a Gentleman**

She had always loved her garden more than almost anything. After all, Violet had been named for flowers, and so it was to flowers that she was so drawn. So if a person was looking for her, the garden was a good place to start; chances were very good that she would be there when the weather was fair and the sun was at its brightest.

It was for this reason that Augustus completely bypassed the front door of the home where she lived with her parents and went straight for the backyard. Her parents were accustomed to his presence, and had never really expressed any displeasure at his visits with Violet, so he was sure that he could sneak directly to the back without it being a problem.

Sure enough, she was sitting out in the garden. She was on her knees with the pink folds of her skirt tucked carefully around her (always a lady, no matter what), her hair tied back under a scarf to keep the soil from it, and her gloved hands buried in the dirt. She brushed the back of her hand against her forehead, probably to brush away a stray strand of hair or a loose fleck of soil.

It was then that she noticed his presence, and smiled, that brilliant, beautiful smile of hers that had enchanted him since they were children. "Augustus! I wasn't expecting you," she said. She dusted her hands together and made as though to stand.

He quickly waved a hand. "Please, don't trouble yourself on my account," he said, and seated himself beside her, uncaring of the dirt. "How are the flowers today?"

He always asked her that: _How are the flowers today?_

Violet looked down. "The wisteria is blooming beautifully today. I wish I could say the same for the mossroses, though." She sighed and gestured towards a cluster of tiny multi-colored flowers that seemed to be half wilted. "Perhaps it just wasn't their season this year. Still, all things bloom in good time." She ran her gloved hands very lightly over the flowers in question. "Perhaps next year."

It was almost funny to think that he had been nervous about coming here today for this particular purpose. Now, watching this gentle girl amidst the flowers that were her namesake, how could he have ever been nervous? Well, if she said no…

That would certainly put a damper on things.

But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"What brings you here today, Augustus?" she asked with another of those benign smiles.

"Violet, there is something that I would like to ask you," he said.

"What is it?" she prodded.

…it was then that Augustus realized his mind was completely void of any further words. He knew what it was that he wanted to say, but he had absolutely no words with which to say it. And he was fairly sure that he was doing a first class impression of a fish on a hook, with mouth gaping and lips flapping.

She was sitting quietly, though, not questioning him further. She simply looked at him expectantly, waiting, with that same calm smile. Not so much as a giggle at his ridiculous behavior. How could she be so serene when he was making a proper fool of himself in her presence?

And then it hit him: Violet knew why he was here. She knew exactly what he was going to ask.

Which meant that she probably already knew her answer.

She had always been a smart girl.

"Augustus?"

He realized that he had stopped opening and closing his mouth in favor of just staring at her, and she was calling to him now. "Augustus?" she tilted her head and gave him a look that could only be described as encouraging. "Don't you have something to ask me?"

"Ah, yes…" he said, barely managing to avoid stammering. "Sorry. Ah, Violet, I was wondering if you would be interested, err, if you would be willing to…"

"Yes…?"

"…Violet, will you…"

"…for goodness' sake, Augustus, just ask."

"…marry me?"

A pause.

"…it's about time."


End file.
